JOIN USThe Rajasthan government on Friday re-included five castes, including Gujjars, in their original category of Other Backward Classes (OBC).
Gujjars and four others will get OBC benefits from December 9, 2016, when the high court struck Special Backward Class (SBC) quota.
This will be subject to the judgement on a special leave petition in the Supreme Court. The Social Justice and Empowerment Department issued the order which is to be implemented forthwith in compliance with the apex court’s earlier decision to keep these castes in the OBC category, Additional Chief Secretary A K Jain told the media.
A Cabinet sub-committee headed by Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Arun Chaturvedi which met Gujjars in April had assured that the state government would re-include five communities in the OBC list from December 9, 2016, when the Rajasthan High Court had scrapped quota for them under the newly created SBC.
The castes includes Banjara, Gujjar, Raika, Goojar and Raibari. In December, the high court had struck down the Special Backward Class Reservation Act, 2015. The high court had struck down an earlier notification saying there were “no extra ordinary circumstances” to allow the state’s overall reservation in government jobs and educational institutions to go beyond the 50% cap.